Holding means and carrying means for ski equipment



y 1968 R. G. WOOLWORTH 3,394,781

HOLDING MEANS AND CARRYING MEANS FOR SKI EQUIPMENT Original Filed Sept. 27, 1965 United States Patent HOLDING MEANS AND CARRYING MEANS FOR SKI EQUIPMENT Richard G. Woolworth, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to Old Pal, Inc., Lititz, Pa.

Continuation of application Ser. No. 490,284, Sept. 27,

1965. This application Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 618,231

4 Claims. (Cl. 19060) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hollow carrying case that has a holder means for a pair of ski poles to be mounted on its exterior surface which constitutes a support surface; the ski pole holder means includes a pair of spaced brace means disposed on opposite sides of a lock means; each of the brace means has at each of its ends an inwardly directed ski pole engaging surface with the inwardly directed ski pole engaging surface on the corresponding ends of the brace means disposed in alignment; the lock means is oblong in shape and rotatably mounted so that a face thereon can be rotated to a position in which it engages the ski poles and secures them against the ski pole engaging surfaces or to a position in which the ski poles may be removed from the pole engaging surface; the spaced brace means and the lock means are removably mounted on the support surface by means of rotatable keys which are supported in key-receiving slots in said support surface.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 490,284 filed Sept. 27, 1965, nOW abandoned.

This invention relates to holding means and carrying means for ski equipment and especially to holding means and carrying means especially adapted for the holding and carrying of ski poles.

It is an object of this invention to provide a ski pole holder adapted to be mounted on a support surface.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a combination of said ski pole holder with a case for carrying ski boots, said ski pole holder being mounted on the exterior surface of a wall of the case, the exterior surface thus constituting the support surface for the ski pole holder.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description and claims.

According to this invention, there is provided a ski pole holder adapted to be mounted on a support surface, said ski pole holder comprising first means defining a first surface oriented to extend away from said support surface and second means defining a second surface oriented to extend away from said support surface, said second means including means to move said second surface to a position wherein the plane of said second surface is juxtaposed to and facing the plane of said first surface, and when said second surface is in said position, the planes of said first and second surfaces defining a space therebetween approximating the diameter of a ski pole to be held by said ski pole holder and the distance between the extremities of said first and second surfaces not exceeding the length of said ski pole, whereby when said second surface is moved into said position said first and second surfaces abut said ski pole and said ski pole is thereby held by said ski pole holder. Furthermore it may be provided that said first surface comprises a plurality of coplanar surfaces. It may further be provided that said second surface defining means is positioned between two of said coplanar surfaces defined by said first surface defining means. It may also be provided that said second surface defining means is an oblong member rotatably mounted on the support surface, said oblong 3,394,781 Patented July 30, 1968 ice member has a major transverse dimension and a minor transverse dimension, said second surface is defined by a side of said oblong member parallel to the major dimension, said oblong member being rotatable to move said second surface into a plane facing the plane of said first surface.

In accordance with another aspect of this invention the above referred to ski pole holder may be mounted on a wall of a case for carrying boots, a surface of said wall thus serving as the support service for said ski pole holder.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a case for carrying ski boots in combination with a ski pole holder of the present invention, said ski pole holder being shown carrying a pair of ski poles;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the case of FIG. 1 open with the ski poles omitted for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the case, ski pole holder and ski poles shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detail view partly in section of part of the ski pole holder taken through plane IVIV as shown in FIG. 1.

The invention will now be further described by means of a detailed description of the drawings.

In FIG. 1, case 10 essentially comprises cover 11 fitted on hollow body 12 (hollow body 12 being shown in FIG. 3). Case 10 is provided with case handle 22 for carrying the case, the case handle being mounted on a wall of body 12. Cover 11 may be locked to body 12 by means of locks 14. Air vents 15 and air vents 16 are provided in both the cover and the body of case 10 at the top and at the bottom respectively of the case. Feet 17 are provided in juxtaposition to the four corners of the bottom of case 10 in order that case 10 may rest thereon out of contact with the ground or other support surface. A ski pole holder is mounted on cover 11 of case 10. The ski pole holder consists essentially of braces 18 and ski pole lock 20. Mounted on cover 11 of case 10 by means of the ski pole holder are ski poles 19. Ski pole lock 20 is an oblong 8-sided member rotatably mounted on cover 11. Ski pole lock 20 is shown in looking position by the solid lines in FIG. 1 and in non-locking position by the broken lines in FIG. 1. The arrow superimposed on the drawing of ski pole lock 20 in FIG. 1 simply indicates the act of rotating ski pole lock 20; the clockwise direction indicated is in no Way critical and rotation in the counter-clockwise direction may just as readily and effectively be performed. Ski pole lock 20, being oblong, has a major transverse dimension and a minor transverse dimension. As shown in FIG. 1 ski pole lock 20 is in non-locking position when its major dimension is essentially non-transverse to (preferably parallel to) the longitudinal axis of ski poles 19 and is in locking position when its major axis is essentially transverse to (preferably perpendicular to) the longitudinal axis of ski poles 19. This change in the orientation of the major dimension of ski pole lock 20 with respect to the longitudinal axis of ski poles 19 is achieved simply by rotating ski pole lock 20 from the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 to the positionshown in solid lines in FIG. 1. Braces 18 provide surfaces opposed to the locking surfaces of ski pole lock 20. The locking surfaces of ski pole lock 20 are simply the surfaces of the sides of ski pole lock 20 which abut against ski poles 19 when ski pole lock 20 is in looking position. Braces 18 are provided with inwardly inclined extremities (most clearly shown in FIG. 4) which provide not only said opposed surfaces but also provide means for preventing movement of ski poles 19 away from the surface of cover 11, said means simply comprising that portion of the inwardly inclined extremities of braces 18 which overlaps ski poles 19 opposite the surface of cover 11.

In FIG. 2, cover 11 is pivotally mounted on body 12 by means of hinges 13. On the inner surface of cover 11 are provided fastening means 13 for braces 18 and fastening means 20 for ski pole lock 20. FIG. 3 simply shows what has been described above in a different perspective. Thus the relationship of cover 11, body 12, braces 18 and ski pole lock 20 with ski poles 19 held thereon is again shown.

In FIG. 4 ski pole lock 20 is shown in more detail. It is also shown that braces 18 are provided with the inwardly inclined holding members 31, each of which may include a reinforcing rib 31, which holding members abut against ski poles 19 (as shown, the reinforcing rib portion 31' is abutting against ski poles v19). Ski pole lock 20 is rotatably mounted on wall 11 of cover 11 by means of stud 32, stud 32 having mounted thereon (or integral therewith if for example molded in one piece in plastic) key member 33. Key slot 34 is provided in cover 11, key slot 34 being the same shape as but slightly larger than key member 33. Thus, if it is not desired to carry ski poles on the case or for convenience in packing the ski case for shipping, ski pole lock 20 may be demounted from wall 11 and, if desired, be stored, for example inside case It). The demounting is accomplished by rotating ski pole lock 20 until key member 33 is aligned with key slot 34 and then withdrawing key member 33 from key slot 34 which can be done since key member 33 is smaller than key slot 34. Mounting is accomplished by aligning key member 33 with key slot 34, inserting key member 33 in key slot 34 and rotating key member 33 out of alignment with key slot 34. Wall 11 is provided with protrusions 35, which, conveniently, may be hemispheroidal. Protrusions 35 are located in the path of rotation of key member 33 and are spaced so that key member 33 fits between continguous pairs of protrusions 35. Thus, key member 33, when rotated, engages protrusions 35 and snaps in place between a pair of protrusions 35 and is thereby held in locking position or is snapped in place between another pair of protrusions 35 and is thereby held in non-locking position. The snapping action occurs because key member 33 and/or protrusions 35 are made structurally light enough and/or of an appropriate resilient material, for example, a plastic, to resilient. Braces 18 are demountably mounted on wall 11' in the same fashion as ski pole lock 20.

While the specific embodiment described above refers to ski poles, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that similar articles such as shoes may alternatively be carried and held by the cases and holders of the present invention. It is not intended that the specific embodiments described herein be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but that all obvious alternatives and equivalents be considered to be within the scope of the invention and that the scope of the invention be determined only by reference to the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a ski pole holder and a carrying case, said ski pole holder being mounted on the exterior surface of a wall of said case, said exterior surface thus comprising a support surface for said ski pole holder:

brace means mounted on said support surface;

releasable connecting means mounting said brace means to said support surface;

said brace means including projecting means extending outwardly from said support surface to provide an engaging surface means against which said ski poles can be clamped;

lock means including a shaped lock member and lock member mounting means movably monting said lock member on said support surface in juxtaposed position to said projecting means;

said lock member being rotatable between a first position out of engagement with said ski poles and a second position engaged with said ski poles to thereby clamp said ski poles against said engaging surface means;

said engaging surface means including at least two spaced apart engaging portions and said lock member being positioned intermediate said portions whereby when said lock member is in said first position, the ski poles will be contacted at least at three separate locations to assure firm clamping thereof; said lock member mounting means and said releasable connecting means each includes a key member and said support surface has key slots therein into which said key members fit, said key members being rotatable out of alignment with said key slots to mount said brace means and said lock means on said support surface and being rotatable into alignment with said key slots to enable said brace means and lock means to be demounted from said support surface.

2. A ski pole holder and a carrying case as defined in claim 1 wherein said lock member includes a face engageable with said ski poles and wherein said engaging surface means and said face are angularly disposed to converge toward one another.

3. A ski pole holder and a carrying case as defined in claim 1 wherein said brace means includes a pair of spaced apart brace members with said lock means positioned intermediately thereof.

4. A ski pole holder and a carrying case as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaped lock member is polygonal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,045,594 11/1912 Nyberg. 2,956,812 10/ 1960 Lundquist. 3,225,987 12/1965 Bonner 22445 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner. F. E. WERNER, Assistant Examiner. 

